DM2007 Pt I – Blink and you missed it
In a marked contrast to the slick organisation of DM2006 Pt IV, the arrangements of DM2007 Pt I were quite frankly, a shambles. There was endless e-mail debate about dates and other gay excuses about being in New Zealand. As a consequence the event was not held until mid-summer. The venue was the Misty Moon in Twickenham. Formally the Wetherspoons pub that The Thrill and CC discovered on the way back from DM2006 Pt IV. We must have been pissed to think that this place had potential, but the board looked in reasonable condition and the beer was cheap. Only five participants were expected, one of which was The Thrill’s mate Martin who was drafted in at the last minute (to make up the numbers?!)
Arriving at the venue early, after sheltering from an unseasonably heavy shower (a taste of things to come) and dodging the tumbleweeds at the bar, I found the bar staff playing darts on the board! My order of a pint of Guinness enabled me to claim the board and await the arrival of the other competitors.
The Thrill and Martin were the first to arrive. All was not as it seemed though, as The Thrill informed us that The Judge had pulled out 20 minutes before the 2 pm start. Claiming some gay excuse about needing to get a Fathers Day present. What was wrong with getting it on the day like any normal person? After Sure Shot’s arrival The Judge had been christened The Gay Judge. A nickname that I fear is here to stay. That meant there would be only 4 competitors.
The format was old-school, two rounds of 501, followed by a best-of-three final. The late withdraw of The Gay Judge meant that there were only 12 games before the final. The highest out shot contest was staged again, this time anything over 40 would be good enough to claim the prize.
First up was CC v The Thrill, in a warm up of what was surely to be the Final. CC secured an unremarkable win. The next 5 games of the first half of the draw were very ordinary, with the highest out during the first 6 games a pathetic 22. The only highlight was Martin’s defeat of Sure Shot, and showing a mastery of the 19s. So much so that even CC had trouble with some of the scoring
Sure Shot was not drinking as much as usual, some gay excuse about cycling to Brighton the following day. However this held him in good stead as he hit a bull finish in his first game of the second half. Albeit after some heckling from CC and The Thrill as he debated whether to go for it or not. The second half was hotting up a little with The Thrill eclipsing Sure Shot’s bullseye with a comfortably taken 60.
It was all over rather quickly though with CC remaining undefeated by notching up 6 wins, followed by The Thrill with 3. Both Sure Shot and Martin claimed 1 victory, which meant that by default and his last minute withdraw, The Gay Judge is the proud owner of The Shit. Which I hope is on its way up from Exeter.
The lateness of this report and the poor quality of the scorecard (handwritten on a piece of A4) means that I can’t recall throw-by-throw how the final went. From memory I think it was a pretty close affair, CC taking the first leg with a 51 checkout. The second was won by The Thrill after CC had a number of chances at a double (already planning that trip to Petersfield?). So it was down to a decider, which was clinically finished by CC with a 79 finish, which also claimed the £20 prize money, which was then promptly fed into the “Deal or No Deal” quiz machine.
The quality of the contest is admirably summed up by the quality of the only photo marking the occasion. A very poor shot with a camera phone. Oh for the days of those slickly organised events down the pav on a Wednesday night!
For those that have not seen the trophy, a close up is shown below.
Although I do have to fess-up that it got broken on the way home! Its come away from the hand-finished plywood base (The Thrill obviously had nothing better to do after the decant than expend time and resources on this fine effort). But not to fear, its nothing that a bit of silicon rubber wont put right!
Well you know what’s coming now, DM 2007 Pt II will be a trip down south to Petersfield, so better dust off your passports. Those that came to last one will recall (just) a very drunken affair, fuelled by Black Vodka and kerbside kebabs! Just watch out for bricks and any other objects that may come in through the windows. At least we wont be subjected to The HotNess’s grey pants this time!
Arriving at the venue early, after sheltering from an unseasonably heavy shower (a taste of things to come) and dodging the tumbleweeds at the bar, I found the bar staff playing darts on the board! My order of a pint of Guinness enabled me to claim the board and await the arrival of the other competitors.
The Thrill and Martin were the first to arrive. All was not as it seemed though, as The Thrill informed us that The Judge had pulled out 20 minutes before the 2 pm start. Claiming some gay excuse about needing to get a Fathers Day present. What was wrong with getting it on the day like any normal person? After Sure Shot’s arrival The Judge had been christened The Gay Judge. A nickname that I fear is here to stay. That meant there would be only 4 competitors.
The format was old-school, two rounds of 501, followed by a best-of-three final. The late withdraw of The Gay Judge meant that there were only 12 games before the final. The highest out shot contest was staged again, this time anything over 40 would be good enough to claim the prize.
First up was CC v The Thrill, in a warm up of what was surely to be the Final. CC secured an unremarkable win. The next 5 games of the first half of the draw were very ordinary, with the highest out during the first 6 games a pathetic 22. The only highlight was Martin’s defeat of Sure Shot, and showing a mastery of the 19s. So much so that even CC had trouble with some of the scoring
Sure Shot was not drinking as much as usual, some gay excuse about cycling to Brighton the following day. However this held him in good stead as he hit a bull finish in his first game of the second half. Albeit after some heckling from CC and The Thrill as he debated whether to go for it or not. The second half was hotting up a little with The Thrill eclipsing Sure Shot’s bullseye with a comfortably taken 60.
It was all over rather quickly though with CC remaining undefeated by notching up 6 wins, followed by The Thrill with 3. Both Sure Shot and Martin claimed 1 victory, which meant that by default and his last minute withdraw, The Gay Judge is the proud owner of The Shit. Which I hope is on its way up from Exeter.
The lateness of this report and the poor quality of the scorecard (handwritten on a piece of A4) means that I can’t recall throw-by-throw how the final went. From memory I think it was a pretty close affair, CC taking the first leg with a 51 checkout. The second was won by The Thrill after CC had a number of chances at a double (already planning that trip to Petersfield?). So it was down to a decider, which was clinically finished by CC with a 79 finish, which also claimed the £20 prize money, which was then promptly fed into the “Deal or No Deal” quiz machine.
The quality of the contest is admirably summed up by the quality of the only photo marking the occasion. A very poor shot with a camera phone. Oh for the days of those slickly organised events down the pav on a Wednesday night!
For those that have not seen the trophy, a close up is shown below.
Although I do have to fess-up that it got broken on the way home! Its come away from the hand-finished plywood base (The Thrill obviously had nothing better to do after the decant than expend time and resources on this fine effort). But not to fear, its nothing that a bit of silicon rubber wont put right!
Well you know what’s coming now, DM 2007 Pt II will be a trip down south to Petersfield, so better dust off your passports. Those that came to last one will recall (just) a very drunken affair, fuelled by Black Vodka and kerbside kebabs! Just watch out for bricks and any other objects that may come in through the windows. At least we wont be subjected to The HotNess’s grey pants this time!
CC
posted by CC at 10:25 pm
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